Tulip Time, U
TULIP TIME, U. S. A.: STAGING MEMORY, IDENTITY AND ETHNICITY IN DUTCH-AMERICAN COMMUNITY FESTIVALS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Terence Guy Schoone-Jongen, M. A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2007 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Thomas Postlewait, Advisor Professor Dorothy Noyes Professor Alan Woods Adviser Theatre Graduate Program ABSTRACT Throughout the United States, thousands of festivals, like St. Patrick’s Day in New York City or the Greek Festival and Oktoberfest in Columbus, annually celebrate the ethnic heritages, values, and identities of the communities that stage them. Combining elements of ethnic pride, nostalgia, sentimentality, cultural memory, religous values, political positions, economic motive, and the spirit of celebration, these festivals are well-organized performances that promote a community’s special identity and heritage. At the same time, these festivals usually reach out to the larger community in an attempt to place the ethnic community within the American fabric. These festivals have a complex history tied to the “melting pot” history of America. Since the twentieth century many communities and ethnic groups have struggled to hold onto or reclaim a past that gradually slips away. Ethnic heritage festivals are one prevalent way to maintain this receding past. And yet such ii festivals can serve radically different aims, socially and politically. In this dissertation I will investigate how these festivals are presented and why they are significant for both participants and spectators. I wish to determine what such festivals do and mean. I will examine five Dutch American festivals, three of which are among the oldest ethnic heritage festivals in the United States.
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